Miss Universe 1978

Miss Universe 1978
Date	24 July 1978
Presenters	Bob Barker, Helen O'Connell, Corinna Tsopei
Entertainment	Robert Goulet and Violines Mágicos de Villafontana
Venue	Centro de Convenciones de Acapulco, Acapulco, Mexico
Broadcaster	CBS
Entrants	75
Placements	12
Debuts	Lesotho, New Hebrides
Withdrawals	Antigua, British Virgin Islands, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Indonesia, Liberia, Mauritius, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, Yugoslavia
Returns	Bonaire, Guatemala, Morocco, St. Vincent, Turkey
Winner	Margaret Gardiner  South Africa
Congeniality	Sophia Titus  Trinidad & Tobago
Best National Costume	Alamjeet Kaur Chauhan  India
Photogenic	Maribel Fernández  Costa Rica

Miss Universe 1978, the 27th Miss Universe pageant, was held on 24 July 1978 at the Centro de Convenciones de Acapulco in Acapulco, Mexico. Margaret Gardiner of South Africa was crowned by Janelle Commissiong of Trinidad & Tobago at the end of the event. This is the first time South Africa won the pageant.

This particular Miss Universe pageant marked the first Mexican—and Televisa—appearance for 19-year-old Maribel Fernandez Garcia. She would become the most immediate success story from this pageant. Within a year of this pageant, she signed to appear in a Vicente Fernández movie, and, because there was already a Mexican actress named Maribel Fernandez, she signed with the network under her new stage name of Maribel Guardia.

Electronic scores were shown on screen for the first time. The scores were also notable for being some of the lowest to have ever been shown in the history of the competition, especially that of Miss Holland, who got 2.890 points in the swimsuit competition.

Results

Placements

Final results	Contestant
Miss Universe 1978	South Africa - Margaret Gardiner
1st runner-up	USA - Judi Andersen
2nd runner-up	Spain - Guillermina Ruiz Domenech
3rd runner-up	Colombia - Mary Shirley Sáenz Starnes
4th runner-up	Sweden - Cécilia Rodhe
Semi-finalists	Belgium - Françoise Moens  Chile - Marianne Müller Prieto  Israel - Dorit Jellinek  Mexico - Alba Margarita Cervera Lavat  Ireland - Lorraine Enriquez  Peru - Olga Zumaran Burga  Holland - Karen Gustafsson

Special awards

Awards	Contestant
Best National Costume	India - Alamjeet Kaur Chauhan  Korea - Jung-eun Shon  Malaysia - Yasmin Yusoff
Miss Congeniality	Trinidad & Tobago - Sophia Titus
Miss Photogenic	Costa Rica - Maribel Fernández
Miss Press	Aruba - Margarita Marieta Tromp

Semi-final scores

Delegate Interview Swimsuit Evening Gown Average  USA 8.155 (1) 7.855 (1) 7.482 (2) 7.831 (1)  Sweden 7.518 (2) 7.300 (2) 7.355 (3) 7.391 (2)  Spain 6.500 (5) 6.870 (3) 7.545 (1) 6.972 (3)  South Africa 6.791 (3) 6.590 (4) 6.373 (5) 6.685 (4)  Colombia 6.645 (4) 6.282 (6) 6.545 (4) 6.491 (5)  Belgium 6.230 (6) 6.364 (5) 5.709 (6) 6.101 (6)  Chile 5.703 (7) 5.064 (7) 4.536 (9) 4.891 (7)  Israel 5.260 (9) 4.280 (8) 4.945 (7) 4.828 (8)  Mexico 5.320 (8) 3.260 (11) 4.145 (10) 4.242 (9)  Ireland 3.889 (12) 3.800 (9) 4.756 (8) 4.148 (10)  Peru 4.422 (10) 3.718 (10) 3.573 (11) 3.904 (11)  Holland 3.911 (11) 2.890 (12) 3.573 (11) 3.458 (12)

Winner      First runner-up      Second runner-up      Third runner-up      Fourth runner-up      Top 12 semi-finalist (#) Rank in each round of competition

Order of announcements

Top 12 Ireland South Africa Israel Spain Holland Mexico Sweden USA Colombia Belgium Peru Chile

Top 5 South Africa Spain Sweden USA Colombia

Judges

The following celebrities judged the final competition:^[1]

• Christiane Martel – Miss Universe 1953 from France
• Dewi Sukarno – Japanese socialite and former first lady of Indonesia
• David Merrick – Tony Award-winning American theatrical producer
• Line Renaud – French singer and actress
• Miloš Forman – Film director from Czechoslovakia
• Ursula Andress – Swiss actress and sex symbol of the 1960s
• Melba Moore – American singer
• Roberto Cavalli – Italian fashion designer
• Wilhelmina Cooper – Founder of Wilhelmina Models
• Anna Moffo – American opera singer
• Mario Moreno "Cantinflas" – Mexican comedian and stage and film actor

Contestants

Argentina – Delia Stella Maris Muñoz  Aruba – Margarita Marieta Tromp  Australia – Beverly Frances Pinder  Austria – Doris Elizabeth Anwander  Bahamas – Dulcie Louise Millings  Barbados – Judy Margot Miller  Belgium – Françoise Hélène Julia Moens  Belize – Christina Margarita Ysaguirre  Bermuda – Madeline Francine Joell  Bolivia – Raquel Roca Kuikanaga  Bonaire – Corinne Rosseley Hernandez  Brazil – Suzana Araújo dos Santos  Canada – Andrea Leslie Eng  Chile – Marianne Müller Prieto  Colombia – Mary Shirley Sáenz Starnes  Costa Rica – Maribel Fernández García  Curaçao – Solange Abigail de Castro  Denmark – Anita Heske  Dominican Republic – Raquel Josefina Jacobo Jaar  Ecuador – Mabel Ceballos Sangster  El Salvador – Iris Ivette Mazorra Castro  England – Beverly Isherwood  Finland – Seija Kaarina Paakkola  France – Brigitte Konjovic  Germany – Eva Marie Gabrielle Gottschalk  Greece – Marieta Kountouraki  Guam – Mary Lois Sampson  Guatemala – Claudia María Iriarte  Holland – Karen Ingrid Gustafsson  Honduras – Olimpia Velásquez Medina  Hong Kong – Winnie Chan Man-Yuk  Iceland – Anna Björk Edwards  India – Alamjeet Kaur Chauhan  Ireland – Lorraine Bernadette Enriquez  Israel – Dorit Jellinek  Italy – Andreina Mazzoti  Japan – Hisako Manda  Korea – Jung-eun Shon

Lebanon – Reine Antoine Semaan  Lesotho – Joan Libuseng Khoali  Malaysia – Yasmin Yusoff  Malta – Pauline Lewise Farrugia  Mexico – Alba Margarita Cervera Lavat  Morocco – Majida Tazi  New Hebrides – Christine Spooner  New Zealand – Jane Simmonds  Nicaragua – Claudia Herrera Cortés  Northern Marianas – Julias Salas Concepción  Norway – Jeanette Aarum  Panama – Diana Leticia Conte Vergara  Papua New Guinea – Angelyn Muta Tukana  Paraguay – Rosa María Duarte Melgarejo  Peru – Olga Roxana Zumarán Burga  Philippines – Jennifer Mitzcheck Cortez  Puerto Rico – Ada Cecilia Flores Perkins †  Réunion – Evelyn Pongerand  Samoa – Palepa Sio Tauliili  Scotland – Angela Mary Kate McLeod  Singapore – Annie Mei Ling Lee  South Africa – Margaret Gardiner  Spain – Guillermina Ruiz Domenech  Sri Lanka – Dlirukshi Wimalasooriya  St. Vincent – Gailene Collin  Surinam – Garrance Harriette Rustwijk  Sweden – Cecilia Rhode   Switzerland – Sylvia von Arx Tahiti – Pascaline Tumia Teriireoo  Thailand – Pornpit Sakornujit  Trinidad & Tobago – Sophia Titus  Turkey – Billur Lutfiye Bingol  Uruguay – María del Carmen da Rosa  USA – Judi Lois Andersen  Venezuela – Marisol Alfonzo Marcano  Virgin Islands – Barbara Henderson  Wales – Elizabeth Ann Jones

Notes

Withdrawals

Antigua - Nadine Defraites  British Virgin Islands  French Guiana  Grenada - Margaret Prudome  Guadeloupe - Mlue Debor  Haiti  Indonesia

Liberia  Martinique - Catherine Marlin  Mauritius - Maria Ingrid Desmarais  St. Kitts  St. Lucia  St. Maarten  Yugoslavia

Crossovers

Miss World 1977:  Spain - Guillermina Ruiz Domenech (Semi-finalist) 1977:  Ireland - Lorraine Bernadette Enriquez 1977:  Malta - Pauline Lewise Farrugia 1978:  Wales - Elizabeth Ann Jones (5th runner-up, as  United Kingdom) 1978:  Belgium - Françoise Hélène Julia Moens 1978:  Austria - Doris Elizabeth Anwander (Semi-finalist) 1978:  Bermuda - Madeline Francine Joell 1978:  Costa Rica - Maribel Fernández García (Semi-finalist) 1978:  El Salvador - Iris Ivette Mazorra Castro 1979:  Norway - Jeanette Aarum 1981:  Peru - Olga Roxana Zumarán Burga Miss International 1978:  Norway - Jeanette Aarum (1st runner-up) 1978:  Ireland - Lorraine Bernadette Enriquez (4th runner-up) 1978:  Holland - Karen Ingrid Gustafsson 1979:  Belgium - Françoise Hélène Julia Moens 1979:  England - Beverly Isherwood (as  Britain) Miss Teenage Intercontinental 1977:  Ecuador - Mabel Ceballos Sangster 1977:  Wales - Elizabeth Ann Jones (Winner, as  England) 1978:  Bonaire - Corinne Rosseley Hernandez 1978:  El Salvador - Iris Ivette Mazorra Castro 1978:  Guatemala - Claudia María Iriarte 1978:  Puerto Rico - Ada Cecilia Flores Perkins (2nd runner-up)

Miss Ambar del Mundo 1978:  El Salvador - Iris Ivette Mazorra Castro (Semi-finalist) 1978:  Panama - Diana Leticia Conte Vergara (Semi-finalist, Miss Photogenic) Reinado Internacional del Café 1979:  Guatemala - Claudia María Iriarte (2nd runner-up) 1979:  Bolivia - Raquel Roca Kuikanaga 1979:  Dominican Republic - Raquel Josefina Jacobo Jaar 1979:  Honduras - Olimpia Velásquez Medina 1979:  Venezuela - Marisol Alfonzo Marcano Miss Europe 1978:  Spain - Guillermina Ruiz Domenech 1978:  Ireland - Lorraine Bernadette Enriquez Miss Scandinavia 1979:  Finland - Seija Kaarina Paakkola (2nd runner-up) 1979:  Norway - Jeanette Aarum (4th runner-up) 1979:  Denmark - Anita Heske Miss Asia 1978:  Papua New Guinea - Angelyn Muta Tukana

References

1. "Once More... Who's the Fairest". Los Angeles Times. July 24, 1978. Retrieved 10 July 2011.

External links

• Miss Universe official website